Night of Rue
by Clarin321
Summary: Slightly AU. Matsumoto discovers that when it comes to Hinamori, sometimes her captain isn't always truthful. In fact, as it turns out, Hitsugaya is willing to stand up for Hinamori even when she threatens to tear him down.
1. Don't Say That Name Again

A/N- Well, this is my first fanfiction ever! You don't have to go easy on me, I can take criticism. Whatever, just review! Please? Anyway, here goes nothing.

Disclaimer- Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, definitely not me!!!! I don't even own Clorox Bleach, let alone an awesome manga/anime series... I own nothing!!!

* * *

For the years that she had been working with her captain, Matsumoto had prided herself on the fact that she and Hitsugaya had a very good working relationship. Though they rarely saw eye to eye, they trusted each other indefinitely, and confided in each other when necessary. And yet, standing there in Orihime's apartment across from him, his back turned to her, she felt detached, as if she barely knew him at all.

Unknown to her captain, Matsumoto had heard every word of Hinamori's somewhat disappointing conversation with Hitsugaya, including her slightly desperate apology. Upon hearing this, she found that, apparently, Hitsugaya didn't feel it quite necessary to tell her _everything_ as she had originally believed. Even if said things were practically eating him up from the inside out.

Yes, Matsumoto saw her captain's obvious distress and anger, and couldn't help but feel offended that he wouldn't let her in. But then again, when had he become a very open person?

"Captain?"

"What?" Hitsugaya replied rather harshly. He obviously isn't in the mood to chat, but Matsumoto knew that this conversation must be had.

"That night, the night that you fought Gin… you always told me that Hinamori had come to attempt to kill Gin again…" she began, choosing her words carefully, "and that in order to stop her from doing something rash, you had to knock her unconscious,"

"What are you getting at, Matsumoto?" He said, irritated. Matsumoto noticed a certain edge on his voice that worried her.

"That's not really what happened, was it?" She glanced up at Hitsugaya, hoping to meet his eyes, but he was still turned towards the other way, avoiding her stares.

"No," His voice was choked and bitter now, but at least it spoke the truth. He was smart enough to know when he was defeated. Matsumoto knew, no matter how much he wished that she would remain oblivious.

A few moments passed, and when Hitsugaya showed no signs of speaking again, or even moving, Matsumoto took the matters into her own hands. Stomping over to his spot in the room, she placed herself in front of her captain, looked him in the eye and crisply said:

"Then what in the world did? And no lies, I've had enough of that by now,"

Hitsugaya turned his head up towards her and fixed her with one of his best glares, but to no avail. Soon, he turned his head down, a withering, weary look in his eyes.

"She tried to kill me," he stated simply.

"But _why_?" Matsumoto had liked Momo enough before, but this disgusted her. She made no attempt to hide this emotion from Hitsugaya, who looked strangely ashamed, maybe for not telling his lieutenant what had very transpired that dreadful night, or possibly just on Hinamori's behalf.

" Because Aizen told her to," he mumbled, as if that just about cleared everything up. Matsumoto was at the end of her rope, and wasn't about to leave it at that, not without a full explanation. When Hitsugaya made a move to escape, Matsumoto grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to face her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped. She really couldn't help it, she was angry. Angry at Hitsugaya for his lies, angry at Gin for leaving her, angry at Momo for being a stupid, naïve, brat. With all her rage, she was going to get answers no matter what.

Hitsugaya sighed, looking resigned now.

"In his letter, Aizen told Hinamori that I was the one who killed him, and said that it was his last wish that she do me in for him in his place. It wasn't her fault, really, she was grieving, in shock…" Hitsugaya tried to rationalize her actions frantically. Even he didn't buy it, though, and it only appeared to depress him more.

"She believed a stupid letter over you?" Matsumoto spat in revulsion.

"She wasn't really thinking right…"

"She was wrong to do that, and you were wrong not to tell me about it," Matsumoto reprimanded.

Silence filled the room, giving the atmosphere a suffocating feeling.

"Don't tell anyone," Hitsugaya said sharply, his authority returning momentarily.

"I never had any intentions to, you know," Matsumoto reminded him, though she was sure that he already was aware of this fact. Both of them were quite aware of the consequences of Hinamori's actions may be, and as this was her second offense, a jail sentence might no longer be considered adequate.

Relief washed over Hitsugaya's features, and he tersely nodded his silent thanks. This time, when he started towards the door, Matsumoto made no move to halt his actions. Instead, she watched his go, his stance guarded and tense. Seeing her little captain in this state just sucked all the hope out of Matsumoto. She had unofficially adopted the motto "If Captain Hitsugaya can't do it, no one can". Right now, her captain was looking to be on the verge of breaking, all his anger snapping him in two.

Abruptly, just before he reached the open door, Hitsugaya stopped.

"Matsumoto?"

"Yes?"

"She called me Shiro again," His words were forced and distraught, and the mere sound of them made Matsumoto's heart twist into knots.

Shiro. She was vaguely familiar of the despised nickname, and the fact that Hinamori had chosen that moment to utilize it meant about a million things in one.

A million painful, crushing things.

A/N- And there you have it! Like I said, REVIEW! PLEASE!!!!! Don't make me beg...


	2. Standing to Defend You

_Tick, tick, tick, tick_

The clock firmly mounted on the Tenth Division's wall furiously ticked away the seconds, minutes, hours, that Matsumoto and Hitsugaya had been back from the World of the Living. Though they had barely been back in their own world for more than 24 hours, they had already been put back to work.

Upon entering the Tenth Division office for the first time since they'd left, paperwork practically covered the entire expanse of the large office. Matsumoto had noticed that the stacks had almost been as tall as Hitsugaya, and had been almost inclined to laugh. Almost.

As a result, neither captain nor lieutenant had even a second to themselves after their rather taxing mission before they dove headfirst into the mounds of work, both muttering under their breath about how the Head Captain couldn't have even had the courtesy to reassign the work in their absence. Apparently, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

For the last few hours, the office had been completely silent save for the ticking of the clock, the sound of pen on paper, and the occasional groan of disgust at how little the dent they had created was. Matsumoto wasn't used to this much silence, but ever since their little exchange back at Orihime's, the two Tenth Division officers' relationship had been rather strained. Not a single person had noticed this, mostly due to the fact that Hitsugaya and Matsumoto could both be shockingly convincing actors when necessary.

Suddenly, the sound of metal scraping against wood rang throughout the room, echoing eerily. Matsumoto's head snapped up in a flash to find the source of the noise. Hitsugaya had stood up from his seat and was making a move for the door.

"Where are you going?" Matsumoto inquired, startled slightly by the sound of her own voice.

"It's no concern of yours," Hitsugaya replied with his normal authority.

That was all the answer Matsumoto needed. He was headed off to see Hinamori in person. As she heard the door slam shut behind her captain, Matsumoto felt impending doom on his behalf. She sighed heavily. She would always be there for him, but whether or not she could get him to take her help was something that she wasn't so sure of these days.

The cool air felt comforting against Hitsugaya's warm skin. He lingered outside the office door for a moment, contemplating just how badly this might go. His eyes slid closed as he prepared himself for the worst. Snapping his eyes open again, he lifted off the ground into a shunpo. He feared that if he didn't go now, he'd never go.

His legs felt heavy with every step he took towards Hinamori's home. When he finally landed on her doorstep, his reluctance made his whole body felt like one huge weight. He lifted his hand slowly to knock on the door. Some thumping could be heard on the other side of the door, and then it creaked open to reveal a rather fatigued looking Hinamori.

"Hinamori," Hitsugaya began, an awkward sort of hello.

"Hitsugaya!" Hinamori exclaimed, looking quite nervous in his presence. She averted her eyes, and stood in the doorway motionless.

"Uh, can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Hinamori said, and frantically stepped aside to make room for Hitsugaya in the doorway. She gave him a see-through kind of smile that soon vanished as quickly as it had come. Hitsugaya stepped through the door, never taking his eyes off of Hinamori for even a second.

"Uh, y-you want to sit down?" Hinamori asked, still not looking at him in the eye. Hitsugaya made a small noise that only slightly resembled a "yes" and sat down on one of Hinamori's kitchen chairs. Hinamori sat down across from him, looking at his feet rather than his face. So far, common courtesy was basically all that had gone on.

"So why did you come?" Hinamori asked softly.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright. You didn't look so good last time I saw you," Hitsugaya answered plainly.

"Oh, well, I'm doing fine! Unohana said that I can go back to work in a few days, so you really shouldn't worry about me!" The fake, nervous smile that Hinamori seemed to force onto her face every time she spoke was quite unsettling, really.

"_Finally, no more of the 5__th__ division's paperwork," _Hitsugaya thought despite himself.

"That's good."

Dead silence. For the next few minutes, the two just stared at each other without really seeing anything at all.

"Toshiro?"

"Mmmm?"

"Can I, uh, ask you a question?"

"What's the question?" Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He knew that look that Hinamori currently had on, and the only time she ever looked at him that way was when she was about to hit a sore spot with him. The heavy feeling of dread returned, overlapping with the awkwardness to create a positively unpleasant feeling in the pit of Hitsugaya's stomach.

"Well, I never… well…. I mean… ever since I woke up, no one has really wanted to give me the full story about what happened with… Captain Aizen," no matter what she did, she couldn't keep her voice steady when she spoke that name. "And, well, I know that you took a big part in it, but I still don't know that happened, so… maybe you could tell me?" She spat out the last bit hastily.

"What?!" This was exactly why he didn't want to come here. She just couldn't let the Aizen thing be, could she?

"Well, so far, all I know is that after I… uh, was unconscious, Aizen left the Seijōtōkyorin, he defected from the Soul Society and almost killed a bunch of people, and at some point, you came in and…" Momo gave him a look that said, "Okay, now fill in the blank."

"Well you know plenty then," These words came out rather cold, but Hitsugaya tossed this fact aside as unimportant.

"But-"

"I don't think we need to talk about this right now, Momo," Hitsugaya interrupted quickly.

"Will you at least tell me what happened to you when you fought Aizen? I have the right to know that much, you have to admit," Momo looked more resolved than Hitsugaya had ever seen her before.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Momo nodded.

Hitsugaya sighed. It was all he could do at the moment. Hinamori had him in a corner, and it looked as though there would be no way out except to run her down. As fragile as she was right now, Hitsugaya would never do that, in fear she might break.

"There's really not much to say. I followed you to the Seijōtōkyorin, but when I got there, I was….too late," he had much difficulties saying such things, as he could barely admit said idea to himself, much less Hinamori. "Aizen explained things to me, and I got mad and…the rest doesn't matter."

"Of course it does!"

"I don't see why-"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Hinamori had a strange, unidentifiable look on her face.

"What do you mean?" But he knew what she meant. He knew it in the pit of his stomach, the same part of him that knew how badly this would all end.

Without another word, Hinamori pulled down her uniform top just enough to let Hitsugaya bear witness to the angry red mark that remained implanted on her pale skin; a remnant of Aizen's treachery. Hitsugaya couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at that scar, the scar that marked her as part of Aizen's betrayal.

Hitsugaya gulped, his stomach doing wild somersaults. His entire body tensed as his hand seemed to unwittingly reach for his own uniform. Hinamori could play him like a grand piano when she wished, and that knowledge scared Hitsugaya senseless. Just like Aizen… he thought

Hitsugaya's hand continued towards his shoulder, and, heedless to his brain's protests, clutched a handful of cloth and pulled away slowly. Soon, part of his own scar was viable for Hinamori to see.

And she saw it all right. She left out a small gasp at the recently torn flesh, but Hitsugaya wasn't done yet. His pesky, uncontrollable hand continued pulling until the whole thing could be seen. Finally his brain stopped screaming at him and settled on letting the harsh regret seep in and smack him in the face.

"I-I didn't know he did _that _to you!" Hinamori yelped.

"It was my own fault. I let anger guide my actions. I probably shouldn't have fought Aizen in the first place, much less released Bankai," Hitsugaya said the last part mostly to himself.

"You preformed Bankai? But your bankai is amazing!"

"It's not so great when you're being hypnotized into thinking Aizen is right in front of you when he's really trying to slice you in two. I didn't even see him coming," Hitsugaya grumbled dismissively. This whole visit was a huge mistake.

"So, you mean, you didn't actually see Captain Aizen hurt you?" For some reason, Hinamori's eyes filled with hope.

"No…" Hitsugaya said cautiously.

"The maybe it wasn't him at all! Maybe Gin was really the one who did it! And anyway, the whole time that I got stabbed is kind of a blur to me anyway, so maybe it really was Gin who-"

"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya interrupted her rambling with a loud yell. "Even if that were true, which it's not, plenty of other people were hurt by Aizen as well. You have to face the facts, Aizen is gone," He tried to put the last part gently, but struggled to keep his composure. So _that_ was the reason for Hinamori bringing this whole topic up again. It all made sense now.

Hinamori's hopeful look vanished and was replaced with a venomous glare.

"I can't believe you! You don't have any faith in Aizen at all! You don't even want to try to believe that he could be innocent! He was _always _kind and supportive to you, and yet you don't find it hard to believe that he's evil at all!" Her voice continued increasing in volume until she was almost piercing Hitsugaya's eardrums.

"Momo, it's not that, I just-"

"No! Get out!" Tears now rolled down her cheeks, quick and uncontrollable as always.

"Momo, I-"

"Please, Shiro, just go! I- I need to be on my own!" Hinamori screeched.

Hitsugaya had no intentions of leaving his friend in this vulnerable, miserable state, but when he tried to reach out to her, Hinamori gave him a look like no other he had ever seen on her before, and of all the rotten things that had happened in the small time they had been together, this was the one thing that would keep Hitsugaya tossing and turning for many nights to come. All evidence of the Hinamori Momo that Hitsugaya had known and loved vanished in an instance in that one awful glare, sucked into the whirlpool of hatred and evil that Aizen had left behind for her to bear.

It was that glare that made Hitsugaya withdraw from his Momo and back away. Any fear he had before seemed pitiful in comparison to that brought on by his old beloved friend. He stepped away slowly, and with one more glance towards Hinamori, he turned his back and stepped away, each step seeming like a relief and a constant torment. He continued walking until he had reached the Tenth Division office. There, he stomped passed a bewildered Matsumoto and numbly made a move to go to his own room.

"What happ-"

Matsumoto was quickly shut up with one of Hitsugaya's own death glares. He continued to pass through the office in a daze until he reached his own room, where he collapsed into an exhausted heap on his bed. He wished for the sanctuary of unconsciousness desperately, but the image of that awful expression Hinamori had keep him from such luxuries.

Vaguely, he could hear Matsumoto come into his room. Now he wished more than anything that she would just go away and leave him to his misery. No such luck. Though she didn't make a move to comfort him, she showed no signs of leaving either.

"She called you Shiro again," Matsumoto said. It wasn't even a question.

"She's going to keep on doing that until you break, you know."

"Just go finish the paperwork, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya ordered. He cringed when he realized just how immature his voice had ended up sounding.

"You can't keep letting her use you as a crutch. I know that you're trying to protect her, but she's never going to heal if you keep this up. I know you don't want to hear this, but it's the truth. You aren't helping her, not with the lying, not with just putting up with her in general. Give her time; she'll heal on your own. And so will you,"

The sound of Matsumoto's light footsteps on the wooden floor acknowledged her exit. Apparently, that was all she had wished to say.

Hours and hours later, when Hitsugaya finally meet the darkness of sleep, those words rung in his brain, pounding against his head at all angles. For the first time since he had become a shinigami, his reiatsu unintentionally fluctuated madly, leaving thin layer of frost covering the expanse of his plain regulation room. Though his body was in peace during his sleep, his mind found no solace that frigid night.


	3. Adoration

A/N- Well, I've finally gotten around to writing this… I have to admit, I'm just sorta going with the flow on this one. I have no plan. Oh, well, I hope it turned out okay anyway!

Oh, yeah, by the way. I still don't own Bleach. Tite Kubo does.

* * *

The morning following Hitsugaya and Hinamori's rather discouraging exchange, the entire Tenth Division was abruptly awoken by a loud crash coming from the captain's room.

As it turned out, the noise was the result of a slightly groggy Hitsugaya unwittingly slipping on the ice that had accumulated over the course of the night. The moment he had staggered out of bed and planted his foot on the floor, his foot had shot out from under him, leaving him to land quite heavily on his back.

Mortified, Hitsugaya scrambled to pick himself up off of the floor, grunting and cursing. As if falling on his _own _ice wasn't embarrassment enough, for someone at a captain's level, letting one's reiatsu free like that was like a full grown adult wetting the bad; it just wasn't supposed to happen.

In the back of his mind, Hitsugaya registered the fact that Matsumoto was hovering at his door, smartly choosing to stay quiet.

"_Get a grip, get a grip, GET A GRIP!" _Hitsugaya mentally screamed at himself, and slowly, as he reigned in his reiatsu, the ice began to disappear. To his disappointment, a few puddles of water remained, despite his best efforts. He tried to regain his normal composure, but he could feel his face reddening.

Toshiro whipped his head over to the door, planning to send Matsumoto a glare that read _tell anyone and you're dead_, but she had already gone.

Matsumoto sat quietly at her desk, waiting for her captain to return from his room. Undoubtedly, he would try and pretend that the morning's incident had never occurred.

Sure enough, when he walked into the office moments later, his usual stony expression had been securely put into place. Matsumoto lifted her head, trying to catch her captain's gaze, but failed. He refused to look at her at all.

With a sigh, Matsumoto pondered where their relationship had gone south. She was, after all, trying her best to be a good subordinate and friend, and hey, she was even doing the paperwork! Up until this point, Hitsugaya had always appeared to appreciate her efforts; though he never said a word, she could just tell. Yet, when Matsumoto had tried to help him with Hinamori, he had shut her out.

With a cringe, Matsumoto thought of how overprotective he was with that girl. Couldn't he see that she was doing him no good? Was he really that blind?

Giving up completely on eye contact, Matsumoto settled on observing Hitsugaya. He was sitting at his desk, pen in hand, but was making no attempt to sign any documents. He was staring off into space, eyes unfocused and bleary. For goodness sake, did that kid get any sleep?!

After excusing herself for a moment, Matsumoto returned into the office with two cups of coffee in hand. Wordlessly, she handed Toshiro a steaming mug, not really caring whether it would stunt his growth or not.

For a short moment, Matsumoto caught his eye, and she wasted no time in giving him a meaningful and disapproving look. Though Hitsugaya turned away in a matter of seconds, the deed was done.

_Give her time, she'll heal on her own. And so will you…_

Matsumoto's haunting words echoed in Hitsugaya's mind, freshly renewed by their latest silent exchange.

Was she right? Should he really leave Momo to heal on her own? Hitsugaya had no clue whatsoever, but his instincts screamed at him to not abandon his life-long (death-long?) friend. No, he decided. There was no way she could be right. This was _Matsumoto_, his lazy and often drunk lieutenant, and not some kind of miracle advice giver. No, he would never abandon Momo.

And yet, he was doing her no good by babying her as he was. He treated her like fragile glass, ready to break, and he knew that if he continued doing so, she could become just that. She must be taught not to be so trusting, so easily deceived, and who else was going to teach her that but him?

These were the thoughts coursing through Hitsugaya's mind as he absentmindedly played with his pen, staring at the wall and seeing nothing.

Suddenly, it was painfully obvious what must be done. Chair screeching on the floor, Hitsugaya stood, a new fire burning in his eyes. Walking like a man possessed, he made his way for the door.

"Where are you going?" Matsumoto inquired. It was the first time that they had spoken all morning.

"Out," He replied dismissively.

Translation: Hinamori's. Matsumoto knew that right away, and Hitsugaya was aware that she did. She always knew.

Turning back to face her, Hitsugaya could see Matumoto's disappointment clearly written on her face. Despite himself, Toshiro felt a stab of guilt ring throughout his body.

_ Sorry, Matsumoto. I can't abandon Momo. _

Once again, Hitsugaya found himself standing at Momo's door, a heavy feeling engulfing his body down to the core. Running on pure adrenaline and a cup of strong coffee, he burst through the door without knocking.

Hinamori, who had been sitting at her table, looking down dejectedly, was now fixing Hitsugaya with a look of shock, fear, anger, and regret.

"T-toshiro!" She stammered, eyes widening at the fearsome expression Hitsugaya was currently wearing.

Upon seeing Momo's scared, sunken eyes, Toshiro felt his stomach twist itself into painful knots. Getting down to the point, before he had a chance to forget about his mission and hightail it out of there, he grabbed Momo's wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"Come with me," Toshiro ordered.

"What?! Come with you where? What are you doing?" Momo cried out as Hitsugaya pulled her to the door. He refused to look at her fact, as he knew that seeing it would compromise his collected disposition.

"We're going training," Hitsugaya stated simply, leaving no room for questions. He pulled Hinamori into a flash step that she struggled to keep up with.

Landing swiftly in the Tenth Division training field, Hitsugaya turned his back to HInamori, who was just barely managing to regain her balance after being almost man-handled by her friend.

"Why are you doing this right now?" Hinamori asked. Her face would no doubt be filled with confusion, but Hitsugaya didn't allow himself to look at her. Not yet.

Hitsugaya's voice was cold as he muttered, "Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru."

Instantly, the temperature plummeted, and the sky grew ominously dark and forbidding. Hinamori left out a weak gasp as Hitsugaya turned to face her, sword pointing in her direction.

"W-what are you doing?!" She weakly asked, large brown eyes filled with terror.

Hitsugaya's face suggested the fact that he could care less whether or not she was beginning to fear for her life at the moment, but inside, Hitsugaya wanted no more that to stop this nonsense at once and attempt to murder the person who had made her so fearful.

"I suggest that you release your zanpakuto, Hinamori," Hitsugaya said, purposefully eerily.

"You want to fight me?" Hinamori asked, voice weakly begging that not to be the truth.

"Well, I believe that the proper term is "spar", but yes. I want to fight you."

The fear in Hinamori's eyes drained away quickly upon hearing this, but the confusion remained. Hitsugaya could accept confusion, though, and some of the guilt receded.

"Snap, Tobiume!" Hinamori cried, and with a flash of red light, Tobiume morphed into shikai form.

Reluctantly, Hitsugaya sent his ice dragon hurtling towards his childhood friend. With a burst of kido, Hinamori melted the ice careening towards her, but she was still weakened from many weeks of being incapacitated, so the kido wasn't as effective as it should have been. She was sent reeling backwards from the sheer force of Hyorinmaru.

For a moment, Hinamori didn't move, and when it appeared that she had no intention of attacking, Hitsugaya charged forward, Hyorinmaru beside him. Hinamori's eyes widened as she fought to catch her breath. Once again, she neutralized Hyorinmaru's icy waters, but did nothing on the offense.

"_She's too attached to me. She's leaning on me just like she did to Aizen!" _Hitsugaya thought frantically_. "Not good, not good!"_

For the time being, Hitsugaya had been going rather easy on Hinamori; just attacking her in the first place was incredibly challenging, let alone trying to win! But no, he couldn't let her make the same mistakes twice. She needed to learn...

Shooting forward into a flash step, Hitsugaya flung Hyorinmaru towards Hinamori. In response, Hinamori trust Tobiume into a basic defensive position, defecting the deadly blade from slicing her head off.

"Come on, Hinamori!" He growled. Upon hearing this, Hinamori slashed Tobiume forward, a burst of red light following the blade, ready to blow her opponent to smithereens.

Deftly, Hitsugaya ducked under her blow and side stepped into safety. He flicked Hyorinmaru's chain onto Tobiume, and the moment metal touched metal, ice erupted, sealing off Hinamori's weapon, immobilizing her. To seal his victory, Hitsugaya snapped Hyorinmaru threateningly up to Hinamori's neck; one twitch would have easily killed her.

"Adoration is the state furthest from understanding," Hitsugaya felt bile rise into his throat as those awful words slithered from his mouth. Aizen's words. Vile, disgusting words.

Hinamori let out a small whimper of discomfort, but Hitsugaya refused to move from his treacherous position.

"I'm going to help you get stronger, so you can stop relying on people blindly. You have to be ready to kill anyone who would do the same to you, even if that person were me, or Aizen. Don't hold back if it's going to save your life."

Hinamori's eyes once again reflected fear, and another torrent of guilt crashed over Hitsugaya. Those eyes… he had hope to never again see such desperation in those eyes, and yet here he was, causing all this torment. He wanted to protect her, wanted to tell her that it would be alright, that he'd be there to save her, always.

Instead, he walked away, pretending not to see the lone tear streaming down Hinamori's pale face.

A/N- Please review! Reviews are my only motivation.


	4. Looming Disaster

A/N- Well, this ended up differently than I'd expected… as usual.

The point of view in this chapter switches around, but it all makes sense in the end. Hope no one is too confused.

Disclaimer- I don't claim to own Bleach.

PLEASE REVIEW!!! I seriously am losing motivation with this one… I have a plot and ending and everything in mind, but I don't know if I'll go on…

* * *

For the many weeks following Hitsugaya and Hinamori's first training session together, the two continued to spar. This practice was inconsistent at best, mostly due to the fact that on most days, either Hitsugaya or Hinamori were far too busy to even consider meeting up. After all, the Winter War was looming closer, and preparations had to be made as quickly as possible.

On other days, Hitsugaya would knock on Hinamori's door and find her much too distraught to even pull together an intelligible sentence. It was obvious, on these days, that she had had a nightmare of Aizen, or was reminded, in some way, of the wretched man. In these cases, an extremely flustered Momo would either send Hitsugaya away, or she would simply break down in his midst, and he would be forced to provide her a shoulder to cry on while he awkwardly patted her back, whispering words of what was hopefully comfort.

Unfortunately, the days that the two could spar usually ended up being even more emotionally trying than all else. Neither party had any desire to attack the other, but they plodded on despite this.

On big step for Hitsugaya was the day that he first allowed Hinamori to draw some of his blood in battle. Though this action was completely intentional, Hinamori immediately stopped and sputtered out desperate apologies, tears streaming down her face instantly to Hitsugaya's great dismay. How could she fight in a war if the mere sight of comrades' wounds upset her like this?

Another important achievement was when Hitsugaya first allowed himself to land a blow on Hinamori. He most likely could have injured her at any time, but up until that point, he was unsure if she was ready, or, for that matter, if _he_ was ready.

To this, Hinamori, luckily, had not cried. Instead, she has simply frozen in place, a look of shock on her face. She appeared to be reliving the Aizen fiasco at that moment, which Hitsugaya regretted to have put her through. Still, he couldn't baby her forever.

Because, sometimes, in order to survive, blood must be shed, and innocence must be lost.

* * *

With a deep sigh, Captain Unohana reluctantly pushed open the large wooden doors leading to the 1st division meeting hall. As usual, the Captain-General Yamamoto awaited her weekly update on 4th division affairs. This necessary weekly assessment had been required of her ever since Aizen's true objective had been discovered and war had been announced. Though it may be a nuisance, Unohana certainly wasn't about to complain.

At the sound of the creaky door being opened, Yamamoto looked up and gave Unohana a curt nod.

"Captain Unohana," he said in acknowledgement.

"Sir," Unohana responded solemnly.

"Your report?"

"Yes, sir. As of late, the number of casualties among our divisions had been steadily rising, as well as the number of those incapacitated. We are beginning to run short of room in the 4th division barracks for the sheer number of those injured by hollows on duty."

Yamamoto nodded grimly. The situation was obviously getting worse and worse as time progressed, and the Soul Society was looking hopelessly outclassed.

"We'll look into secured you more room," Yamamoto began. "Besides that, as I'm sure you've noticed, the 5th division is getting slightly out of hand by now without both a captain and a lieutenant. I know that you believe Vice-captain Hinamori's physical status to be acceptable, but what of her mental status? That must be assessed before I am convinced that we can place her in temporary charge of her division."

Unohana shifted slightly. "I haven't yet had a chance to assess her mental state lately, so I'm in no position to decide that," she said.

"In that case, assess it. We can't have the 5th division without any commanding officers. If you must, question those close to her. Whatever you do, do it fast, though. We have others matter to attend to."

"Yes, sir," Unohana said. She waited a moment before bowing quickly and exiting the large room.

* * *

Once outside, Unohana sighed once again. The meeting was briefer than usual, but had ended on a rather sour note. She was a busy person, and certainly wasn't looking forward to interrogating people about Hinamori. It couldn't be helped, though, for there was no time to arrange a practical exam.

Wracking her brains, Unohana tried her best to remember who might be considered "close" enough to Hinamori to know whether or not she was fit for the position of temporary captain. Not only that, but it'd have to be some one who could properly make an unbiased decision. Those types of people were becoming more and more rare as it seemed.

Thinking back, Unohana remembered the people who had visited Hinamori while comatose. Renji Abarai, for one, as well as Izuru Kira. Captain Hitsugaya had come many times once he himself had awoken, and if she remembered correctly, Shuhei Hisagi had come around once or twice. Finally, she decided, that Abarai, Kira, and Hitsugaya were her best bets.

Unfortunately, Renji was off gallivanting around Hueco Mundo with Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, and Hitsugaya had been called off to go exterminate a group of rather pesky hollows. That left only Kira, who Unohana believed would most likely tell her everything he knew. (He did have quite a reputation for cracking under pressure, and Unohana knew that when she wanted to be, she could be quite terrifying.)

* * *

"Captain?" Unohana lifted her head from her mound of paperwork to see Izuru Kira standing at her door.

"Lieutenant! Come in and sit down. Thank you for coming!" Unohana said kindly, flashing the man a small smile. He gulped and sat down in the wooden chair across from the captain.

"You've known Vice-captain Hinamori for quite some time now, haven't you?" Unohana inquired.

Kira simply nodded, question written across his face.

Unohana chose to get down to the point quickly. "Well, it is being questioned whether or not Hinamori is mentally fit to temporarily take Captain Aizen's place in the 5th division, and we wish to see a close friend's opinion on the matter."

Kira squirmed in his seat. Momo was obviously a sore topic with him. "Well…" he began.

"I suggest you answer this question truthfully. After all, it isn't only your friend we're talking about, but the wellbeing of an entire division. We can't be putting all those lives in incompetent hands, now can we?" Unohana asked lightly.

Kira's eyes widened for a moment, and then he appeared to be contemplating his next words carefully.

"Well, I… uh… I guess that she might be able to take care of the division… but to be honest, she hasn't, well… I don't know… seemed quite… right….ever since Aizen faked his death and she tried to kill Captain Hitsugaya…" Kira looked at the floor as he said this, a guilty look in his eyes.

Unohana wasn't entirely sure whether or not she'd her Kira's words correctly. Her mind raced for a moment, but she refused to let her confusion show.

"Every since she… tried to kill Captain Hitsugaya?" She repeated calmly, but uncertainly.

"Yeah," Kira said. He didn't appear to catch on to her confusion.

For a moment, Unohana lost complete track of her original incentive.

"Kira, when exactly did Lieutenant Hinamori try to kill Hitsugaya?" Unohana asked, a bit less calm then before. If what she was hearing was true, than… No, she couldn't go there yet. Not until things were certain.

"You don't know?" Kira seemed to understand the way things were going now. "Well, it was back when she escaped from jail. She thought that Captain Hitsugaya killed Aizen, so she… well…" He trailed off. "Don't you already know this?"

"Thank you, Kira. That will be all," Unohana said quickly, standing up. Seeing her action, Kira followed suit.

Swiftly, Unohana walked out of the 4th division barracks, Kira tailing behind her.

"Is something wrong? What's going on?" Kira asked, struggling to catch up to the captain.

"It's none of your concern. Please carry on with your business." Unohana ordered, losing her cheery attitude.

She had to sort out of few things with the Captain-General.

* * *

A/N- Ahhh! Is that a plot??? Maybe…

Oh, yeah, by the way, does anyone know what to call Yamamoto? The manga calls him Captain-General, but I've seem him be called other stuff like Captain-Commander and Head Captain. Personally, I think Captain-General sounds kinda weird, but I'm going with it anyway.


	5. Inferno

A/N- Sorry about that hiatus thing. I'm back, if any of you are still interested. This is sorta where the story really gets going.

Disclaimer- I don't own Bleach.

* * *

From the moment Hitsugaya opened the creaky first division door and found himself faced with the stony expressions of his fellow captains, already assembled, waiting, he knew that he was dead meat. After all, it was well known that if you were called in last to the meeting, it was _you _who was the object of discussion.

As he walked down the line of sullen captains, he struggled to keep his stoic expression in place. In all honesty, he wasn't entirely sure if he would get out of this meeting without being thrown in jail. There was one thought on his mind only, and that thought continued replaying itself over and over. _They know. They know everything._

How they knew, he had no idea, but that wasn't the issue at the moment. Taking his place in the center of the room, Hitsugaya found it difficult to look into Yamamoto's steely eyes, full of disapproval and displeasure.

"Well, Captain Hitsugaya. I assume that you know why you are here?" Yamamoto began, his voice echoing though out the large hall eerily.

"Yes, sir," Hitsugaya replied, his head bowed.

Zaraki chose that moment to insert in a hushed, "Been lying to reports a lot lately?" much to the other captains disapproving glares. The tension in the room was suffocating, and the large, burly captain was certainly not doing a thing to help.

"Quiet," Yamamoto reprimanded quickly, not breaking eye contact with Toshiro once. "Are you aware of the fact that lying in an official captain's report is considered an act of treason?"

"Yes, sir," Hitsugaya replied, his voice even and low. _They know, they know, they know…_

Yamamoto had a look of distain crowding his features, and with a final sigh, he turned his head downwards, looking… irritated? He was unpleasantly hard to read.

"In a normal situation, you would most likely be questioned, found guilty, thrown in jail, and then killed for your actions. However, as you have already admitted to lying, there is no point in questioning. You've already been found guilty. However, currently, we are already short on captains, and I don't see fit to lose another one," he boomed, his voice full of finality.

Wait. Did that mean… he was getting off without punishment? No, he decided. That simply meant that they weren't going to kill him. How wonderful.

"Yet we simply can't overlook your actions at the moment, especially after the Aizen incident."

Being right never felt so terrible.

"As a result, we have all decided that your final judgment, should we all survive and win the winter's war, will take place after the war is over,"

"I understand, sir," Hitsugaya answered. Despite his attempt to contain it, he was sure that some amount of relief was evident on his face.

"Do not misunderstand me, Hitsugaya. I have no intention of letting you off with a warning today. The decision has been reached that, in order to remind all of those surrounding you of how you have disgraced the Seireitei, you are going to be marked."

With the announcement of the young captain's fate, everyone in the room recoiled with varying degrees of surprise. The more empathetic captains, such as Unohana and Ukitake seemed taken aback and grim, while Kurosutchi and Zaraki merely appeared lightly amused.

Personally, Toshiro was frantically wracking his brains in order to recall hearing of such a punishment. When he at last recalled, his eyes widened. Surely not _that_! In the time that Yamamoto had been in power, such an actions had only been recorded as taking place once or twice.

Briskly, Yamamoto rose out of his seat and fluctuated his reiatsu purposely. The room suddenly became sweltering hot, and all oxygen appeared to have been sucked away. Hitsugaya froze in place, the heat threatening to make him throw up; no one else in the room appeared to have been as violently affected by the reiatsu as he was, though he couldn't say whether that was because it was being directly aimed in his direction or because he simply couldn't stand the heat.

Unsure of whether or not he was allowed to, he released some of his own reiatsu to counter Yamamoto's, mostly so that he wouldn't pass out on the spot. At the moment, the last thing on his mind was whether or not that was part of protocol.

"Turn around and face your fellow captains, Hitsugaya," Yamamoto boomed. The room's temperature seemed to climb with each word that was spat out of his lips.

Hitsugaya slowly did as he was told, and looked upon the twelve others with a look of what pride he managed to retain. He refused to show weakness in front of the others, so he lifted his head high, prepared to take what would come with grace and acceptance. He bit his lower lip so he would not cry out and shame himself further.

But no amount of preparation could have readied him for what came to him.

He actually heard the oncoming flame before he felt it, but when he did, the force of the blow sent him sprawling on his hands and knees, shaking. Yamamoto had sent the fire straight at his unprotected upper back and neck, and he certainly had not done him any favors with the size and velocity of his attack.

When the pain finally did reach him, it sent him down headfirst onto the hard wooden floor, writhing. In all his efforts not to scream, he bit straight though his lip and yelped out in agony anyway. He noticed this pain little, however, as the pain radiating from the burn on his back overpowered all other feeling, until he was aware of nothing but the burn.

Even as the flame sizzled and died, the pain only intensified further. Hot tears ran from his eyes, mixing into the blood from his mouth pooling onto the floor in front of him. He could actually hear the skin on his back crackling and popping audibly, and it made him want to throw up all over the floor.

Instinct told his body to move, to try to tend to the new wound, but movement only further increased the misery. Hot tears ran down his face as he curled into a tight fetal position.

Whether it was minutes or hours that he lay on the floor, writhing, cringing, and sobbing, he wasn't sure. Through the roaring in his eyes, he could hear the hushed voices of the others talking. Somewhere in his barely conscious mind, he wondered if they were talking about him. Fortunately, all sense of dignity had already escaped him, so he wasn't too concerned.

At long last, he could feel the vibrating of footsteps informing him that the room was clearing. He could just barely make out Yamamoto curtly calling,

"Unohana."

"Yes, sir," he believed was her answer. He could hardly tell over the thick haze of his pain-laced brain.

Apparently, she already had been told of what to do, because he could feel her footsteps coming towards him, sure and purposefully. She stopped right in front of his crippled form and knelt down, carefully peeling him from ground currently covered in a mixure of both blood and tears. The abrupt movement further jarred his fresh burn, and he yelped out once again, spewing more blood as he did so, possibly onto Unohana herself. If he did so, she made no move in disgust.

From there, she swiftly carried him out of the meeting room bridal style; had he not been on the verge of passing out, he definitely would have been mortified at looking so childish in her arms.

With ease, Unohana snapped into a flash step. With one last burst of fiery pain, the darkness at last took over Hitsugaya, and he passed out cold in the hands of the 4th division captain.

* * *

When Hitsugaya awoke once again, he found himself being propped up by a set of cold, steady hands.

"Oh, Hitsugaya! You're awake again." Said the owner of the hands, who Toshiro discovered to be Unohana still.

Shaking his head slightly, Toshiro willed his vision to clear enough for him to get a good look at him surroundings. When it successfully did so, he found himself to be in a plain 4th division healing room. Unohana was in the process of wrapping his back and neck in a thick covering of bandages.

Perplexingly, the pain he had endured back in the meeting room had barely subsided at all. If anything, it had become even more unbearable, settling into a constant burning sensation. He let out a loud, strained hiss as Unohana prodded a particularly painful area.

"I'm sorry, Captain. Basic protocol dictates that I'm only allowed to heal you up to the point where you won't be incapacitated too badly, and then wrap it up for you. It's obviously going to be incredibly painful, and we'll have to watch it for infection, which is a high risk," Unohana said.

She sounded apologetic, but her voice was full of frustration as well. Understandably so, he supposed. After all, how would he feel it he was faced with a hollow, but was only allowed to keep it from killed people, and couldn't destroy it?

Processing this information, he nodded slowly. His head was spinning sickeningly, and his body felt thousands of pounds heavier than usual.

With a final pull on the bandages, Unohana secured her wrapping and turned to look Hitsugaya in the eyes. His body lagged forward, but Unohana's strong arms on his shoulders stopped him from falling from the metal operating table.

"All that aside, what in the world were you thinking?"

With a thin, raspy and cracking voice, Hitsugaya replied, "I wasn't."

"You were trying to protect Hinamori from danger, I understand that. But Hinamori most likely wouldn't have gotten in trouble if Kira didn't, and he attacked Lieutenant Matsumoto."

"Well, I know that _now_," Hitsugaya stated pointedly, but the fact that he could barely even talk took out a great deal of the bite from his words. His cut lip had only just stopped bleeding, and that alone made speaking difficult, never mind the pain from his neck that flared up with each movement.

Noticing his difficulty, Unohana face screwed up in question, her small fingers gently touching his lower lip.

"I suppose that there's nothing against me healing this for you," she said softly, referring to his mangled mouth. She appeared to have no further reprimands in store for him at the moment.

Within moments, his face had been restored to generally what it had been before, minus the blood. Not exactly thrilled to speak again, Toshiro simply nodded his head in thanks.

Unohana sighed loudly.

"You must really love Hinamori, for all the pain that this has put you through," she stated, looking anywhere but his eyes.

Though it could have just been her imagination, Unohana thought that she saw the young captain nod slightly.

* * *

A/N- Implied HitsuHina? I dunno, maybe. Yeah, I know, I actually may have included hinted romance here. Pretty wild, huh?

If you can tell, this was a bit inspired by Avatar: the Last Airbender, which, by the way, I don't own either. (You know, the burning part.)

Please review. Things got a bit crazy here, I know, and I'd like to know what you think.


End file.
